Eyes of A Stranger
by Sweey
Summary: When Stranger gets poisoned into submission and kidnaps Fumu, it's up to Meta Knight, Edge, and a certain friend of Meta's past to rescue them both. During this time, Stranger is struggling to keep his darkest secret from Fumu while still protecting her.
1. The Poison of Submission

_**Sweey: **_**Alright, here I am, typing another random story that started out as a journal entry on DA... :3 Enjoy! This story goes was inspired to me by a random song I heard by Iron Maiden (yes I listen to them sometimes) Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger. It made me laugh... because it described Stranger perfectly and then it sounds like someone freaking out about him chasing them... also, i'll be switching from first person to third person omniscient which is unusual for me. :3 enjoy!**

_**The Poison of Submission**_

Fear set in my eyes as I held myself high above the one who hunted me. He was searching for me... but he failed to glance up where I stood watching.

The tree that held me swayed with my weight and a shadow was cast over my face from the hood I always wore. This man held my two knives and had shattered my bow. Those were the only weapons I held that I could protect myself with.

Then he saw me and smiled with grit and evil as he pulled back his arm and let fly one of those dreaded hummingbird blades. It came too fast for me to move out of its reach and it landed in my gut, a perfect shot. The poison seeped in from the hummingbird's hollow beak and the metal bird flew back to his owner after its duty had been served.

I winced as I felt the wound healing at impossible rate. There was no escaping this fate, the fate that I had been destined to live through, as a Shadow Shade's toy, the one who served out his dirty work. The reason I show no one my face is because of him so no one may recognize the wandering stranger from the faceless shadow of death.

My eyes began to blaze a bright green and I knew I'd soon loose my mind to the power of the poison. He would control me now and I'd have no choice but to follow his will. I, Stranger, the Wanderer, am now Faceless, the Assassin... with no mercy or pity to those who are innocent in contrast, I obey those who show none to me... tis a sick a twisted world we live in and I'm playing the role of both the villan and the hero. I am chasing my own trail.

...

Fumu was walking home from talking with Whispy Woods. The sun had gone down not but an hour ago and she began to sense that someone was watching her every move.

Then she heard the footsteps.

She whirled around only to find Sir Meta Knight standing there staring at her with his glowing yellow eyes.

"WHAAAA!" She freaked, then composed a very angry and embarrassed attitude, "Sir Meta Knight that was cold! Why did you scare me like that?"

Sir Meta Knight frowned beneath his mask. He'd just been debating with himself as to how he would go about NOT scaring her in the process of joining her. He sighed, "Forgive me Fumu, it was not my intention to scare you but rather to join you on your walk home."

Fumu's features softened, "Oh, well I guess so..."

As they walked together through Whispy Woods the sixth sense that Meta Knight bore twinged in warning to him causing him to stop in his tracks.

Fumu turned around and looked at the old Star Warrior in confusion, "What is wrong Sir Me-"

Sir Meta Knight quickly held up a mitten-clad hand to stop her in mid-sentence, so she did. Then she saw something in the dark and cringed with fear.

"W-what is that?" she whispered in a voice that trembled with anxiety.

Sir Meta Knight's glowing yellow eyes met a pair of blazing green ones.

"So, he's come back has he Stranger? We'll fight this together," Sir Meta whispered to himself. He turned to Fumu, "RUN!

_**Sweey: **_**I know, this was a short beginning and I have no excuse for it being so... well, I hope you all enjoyed this story! :D Please R&R! ;D**


	2. Don't Look to the Eyes of the Stranger

**Sweey:**** Anyways... here's the next chapter! Not much to say spet that when I write in first person it's Stranger talking... :D ENJOY!  
**

_Don't Look to the Eyes of the Stranger_**  
**

I was chasing them, I could not turn back now. My master wanted them and wanted me to deliver them to him personally. While my heart screamed at me to stop my body refused to freeze in this horrible rivalry between good and evil. Why was I chosen to be the one in between all this? The shadow between dark and light, the gray that fades black and white into a whole.

Why?

With these thoughts racing through my head chasing after answers my feet were racing past the wind chasing those I cared for. My soul loved them both, but my body was pursing and looking to have them dead... and there was nothing I could do about it except go through these bitter thoughts that had fixed themselves in my head.

...

"Run faster! We're almost to the castle!" Sir Meta Knight yelled, his voice escalating with anxiety as he ran behind her, Galaxia drawn, running.

Fumu did so, but she could feel the presence of evil closing in around them like the dark shadow of death that loomed over graves. Her eyes widened as she sensed it and panic gave her new speed. If Sir Meta Knight feared this thing... then she should be scared out of her wits, but she pressed on nonetheless.

Then suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared before her and she ran right into it. She felt an abrupt, sharp twinge in her gut and she paused and slowly began to look up at the green, glowing eyes peering down sinisterly at her.

"NO FUMU! DON'T LOOK TO THE EYES OF THE STRANGER!" Sir Meta Knight screamed.

But he was too late, she had already fixed her eyes upon that of the faceless stranger, and she felt something peculiar happening. Her body began to grow numb and she felt her eyes twitch several times until her world became tinted in green.

"Welcome my new slave... to your new world," a sinister voice said.

Fumu looked around, she was no longer in Pupuland... but rather in an empty room with blue green walls furnished with nothing but deep drapes of shadow.

"Where am I?" Fumu asked the voice.

"Why don't you let your captor tell you?" the voice said from the shadows, "Faceless?"

The green eyes beneath the deep hood widened slightly and the man frowned, shaking his head.

"DO IT!" the voice demanded.

Fumu studied the hooded figure a little closer, "Stranger?"

Stranger's frown deepened as he nodded, "Yes... that is one of my names."

Fumu scowled in concentration as she stared at him, "What's going on?"

At that Stranger became quiet a while before speaking, "Something terrible..."

"You will take her to your bunk room... She will be a permanent resident and your responsibility Faceless... understand?" the voice asked.

"Understood Shadox Veroxin..." Stranger bowed to the corner of shadow where the voice crept from to their ears then turned to Fumu, his eyes no longer glowing green, "Come Fumu..."

Fumu nodded. She couldn't help but feel terrible pity for him. He seemed so depressed in this state and she wanted to help him...

...but how?

...

Sir Meta Knight stood motionless where the two had once stood. They vanished before he could follow any further. With a Wanderer of Stranger's skills he wasn't surprised. He needed to go after them though... but how? A smile slid across his face as an idea formed in his head. Only an expert tracker could track a person who left no tracks. And Meta Knight knew just who that person was...

"Emit..." he whispered to himself as he left towards Castle Dedede.

...

I could feel my frown deepening as we neared my bunk. Fumu was scared out of her mind and shaking. My heart was too.

As I opened the heavy metal door to the small room I spent my time when in this dreaded place, we were greeted by the smell of roses which I often picked and left in a vase in the middle of the wooden table that sat in a corner. Black carpet left brief footprints as we entered within the small apartment- if it was even that...

The last of my rations provided a small meal for the both of us. As I chewed on a piece of tough deer jerky I caught Fumu's gaze fixed upon me.

"What?" I asked, my voice coming out flat.

Fumu shook her head, "What is this place?"

"When you ran into me... did you happen to look in my eyes?" I avoided answering her first question.

I saw her hesitate before replying to me, "Y-yes... why does it matter."

A frown of grief crept across my shadow-cast face as I thought of what to say. Not knowing exactly what to say without frightening her more, I allowed an awkward silence the uncertainty I was experiencing at the moment. I shifted, she may as well know...

As I stood, "Fumu... this place is hell, so I suggest you get some rest." As contradictory the statement was, it was nothing short of true.

She stared at me awkwardly as she noticed the large bed in the corner.

Pressing a hand against the bleeding wound on my torso I paced to think of what I'd do to solve the problem. I finally came to the solution of a cot but that was immediately discarded as the guard locked us in.

"Great," I growled to myself, then I turned to Fumu, "You can have the bed... I'll take the floor."

Fumu nodded then slipped into the massive bed. It was ridiculous that I couldn't sleep on it too. She took up barely half of a half.

After I cleaned my wounds, I fell asleep on the floor, wrapped in my warm, tattered cloak.

**_Sweey: _Not much to say! :3 poor Stranger... :c PLEASE R&R**


	3. Don't Look through the Eyes of a Fool

_**Sweey:**__** Happah Valentines Day EVERYONE! :) I'm glad you guys are liking Stranger. He and I are very close. Closer than Thorn and I even! :3 You see, Stranger has always been my best imaginary friend. (no, I'm not crazy) He's gone by several different profiles and names until he finally evolved into the loving yet mysterious and quiet character he is today! ^_^ An announcement! I am not doing a Val-fic this year! Details are in the author's note at the bottom. ;D So, without further ado, the next chapter! ^_^**_

_**Chapter 3 Don't Look through the Eyes of a Fool**_

I woke up from another dreamless slumber to a morning with no sun. Fumu was still asleep on the bed, murmuring softly in her sleep.

As I pulled myself up from the floor, a soft grunt passed from my lips. Groaning softly from the pain, I made my way to the small bathing room where I stripped my clothing to enjoy a hot bath.

While I soaked in the steaming water, I inspected the wound from the hummingbird blade. The small wound had reopened as a gaping, black hole no larger than the head of a pencil. About an inch around the hole, the skin had turned a mixture of purple and red. Not from being bruised, but from infection. Though the small wound had reopened, it was far too late to suck the deadly poison out as already, my lifeblood was already turning a shimmering, metallic emerald. The last drops of pure blood had drained and turned the bathwater red.

In taking this bath I was also taking the huge risk that Fumu might see me without my hood, despite the caution of closing the door. With this in thought, I slipped out of the tub, dressed myself and the wound, and then returned to the main room where I was greeted by a scowling Fumu.

"What in the Universe took you so long?"

I cringed, hesitating, not wanting to worry her with my wound, "I-I was...merely bathing."

"Alright, but next time remember that you're not the only one who has to use the bathroom here anymore!" she brushed past me, causing me a world of pain, and I glared at her from within the deep shadows of my hood, but showed no sign of emotion on the visible features of my face.

With stiff steps, I moved to the table where I picked up a certain novel, The Lightning Knight. Ironically, I knew him personally.

A smile crept across my face as I parted the book and began to read it for the millionth time yet again. The facts were so obvious to me that I felt foolish and naive about the entire past confrontation with my old friends. My thoughts were interrupted by a shriek from Fumu within the bathroom.

I stood abruptly as she burst forth out of the bathing room. In confusion, I watched as she pointed angrily to the bathroom, her face reddened with frustration.

I frowned, not having a clue as to what could possibly be the matter and then it hit me.

"What is that? Why is there blood in the bathtub?" Fumu demanded heatedly.

I clenched my jaw, refraining myself from allowing my anger to control my actions, "I'm sorry Fumu, I'll take care of it." I cloaked my anger in a cool voice of quietude. As I did so, I saw something flicker in Fumu's eyes as she studied me.

"Y-you're... wounded."

"Indeed," I replied in my usual manner of quiescent.

"I-I'm sorry Stranger, I-I didn't realize..." Fumu stammered.

I knew she was telling the truth, but I wasn't about to let it slide off so easily, "I suppose even obvious things can be overlooked. From now one, don't look through the eyes of a fool."

Fumu nodded, her face reddened but her lips together in a firm line. I could see she wasn't sure how to react at that statement and that is what I had been expecting and what followed that was what I had been longing for... silence.

...

"So what's the plan Meta?" Emit's crisp, clear voice carried over to the masked knight.

"You track, I'll watch your back," Sir Meta Knight replied purely.

"Simple enough," Emit agreed, "Any suspects or victims in particular?"

"An old friend of ours, Stranger, and a friend of mine, a young girl named Fumu, has been kidnapped," Sir Meta Knight explained.

"S-Stranger's missing? Then this can't be good..." Emit muttered nervously to himself.

Sir Meta Knight nodded in agreement.

"FUMU'S BEEN KIDNAPPED?"

Emit and Sir Meta Knight turned to find a _very _enraged Edge whose face had turned red, revealing to the whole world just how much emotion that he could show.

Sir Meta Knight and Emit nodded slowly, eyes widened slightly, and brows raised. Both of them were shocked by Edge's sudden portrayal of such rash emotion.

"Well? What are you two staring at? Fumu is in danger and so is Stranger! We won't accomplish anything just standing here!" he said heatedly to them as he dashed ahead.

Emit and Meta Knight exchanged glances and Emit shook his head, grinning. He and Edge had always been like brothers, and this day was no exception.

"Edge, sorry to intrude on your path to revenge but, the tracks lead in _that _direction," Emit said as pointed in the exact opposite direction that Edge was going. As the flustered Edge walked by hastily, Emit snatched him by the shoulders, "Get a hold of yourself, brother! You can't follow the tracks while being in such a cross mood! Stop looking through the eyes of a fool! The only people who can pull that off would be either me or Stranger, so hurry up and pull yourself together! You're giving me a headache!"

Edge nodded then submissively composed himself to his usual emotionless and stern manner. He always benefitted from Emit's pep talks... if that's what they were.

Emit rolled his eyes, successfully hiding a very broad grin of pleasure, "This journey is sure to be far more than just amusing..."

_**Sweey:**__** Heys! I wanted to say, I'm not doing a Val-fic this year. I haven't the time as school has started up again. So, I added Edge to the bunch! :3 Anyways... just because I'm not writing a Val-fic doesn't mean my characters aren't being written into one! Crispy Pink is doing a fluffy one-shot (I believe that's its length) with FumuXEdge. I don't know the name of it... yet. :) So please! After you review on THIS story, go read and review hers! **_


	4. The Warning of the Wanderer

_**Sweey: **_**Alright, another chapter… Musicture, I've posted TWO chapters… so make sure you don't do it again! X3 lol. Anyways, just a reminder, I'm tired and I want to go play Little Big Planet. So, this chapter's gonna be cut short. BEAR WITH ME and give me a bear hug while your at it. I need one! ^_^ GO on… READ! **

_**Chapter 4 The Warning of the Wanderer**_

I was called to Shadox Veroxin's main quarters and I was certain I knew what he was going to say.

"Faceless," Veroxin began, "Go after those who are after you."

"Going after me? Whatever do you mean?" I asked, playing it stupid.

"That meddaling medal-head, the Amasi shadow, and the other Ivoian warrior! You'll leave tomorrow, understand!" There was no sign of sympathy in his voice.

"Understood," I answere through cringed teeth and as I turned to leave, he stopped me again.

"Don't forget these," he said as he placed my two fighting knives and a new bow on the floor beyond the wall of shadow he stood behind.

I picked them up and said nothing as I left the room.

"Good luck Faceless…" was the last phrase I heard from him as I closed the door to that wretched room.

Fumu had been reading and when I entered the room, she stood, "What's going on, Stranger?"

I gazed at her from the shadow of my hood for a long time without saying anything while I adjusted my weapons on my belt, "Nothing you need to worry about." That was all I could manage to say without revealing the falseness of the statement.

I'd rather deal with my own problems than have people pry answers out of my mouth to questions I'd not even utter to an angel. I am a Wanderer; I can't afford to trust anyone.

Realizing that I had lost my way in my thoughts, I opened my mouth to speak to Fumu, "I'm going to go have a drink. I'll be back soon."

With those brief words, I left and headed to the tankard within Veronxin's massive fortress. I rarely ever drink… but today was an exception. I was met by fearful gazes of several people as I entered the tankard. Ignoring them, I made my way to the bar near the middle of the room.

"Ay Strangah!" A hearty greeting exploded from Teddy, the burly, plump barkeeper. We weren't all monsters in this wretched fortress. Some of us were just a little more distorted than others. "What'll it beh?"

"The usual," I replied in a hushed voice.

He filled a glass with bittersweet, red wine and I took several drafts of it. As I enjoyed my drink, the distinct smell of liquor and sweat rudely invaded my nostrils.

"'Ey, it's Faceless Stranger! You that evil demon possessed freak that does all uh' the big shot's dirty work? What's dat warnin' evry-un' says'm…? Somethin' 'bout not lookin' at yer eyes, dat it? Ah yeah, dat's it!"

I bared my teeth briefly to warn the man that he'd better shut up soon, but of course, he never took notice.

I watched from my peripheral vision as he stood unstably on two wobbly orange feet as he began to shout at the tankard customers, "Don't look to de eyes of the Strangah! The faceless death deliverer ul' have ya in chains in hell befo' you've a chance tuh sayee good-bie-ie! Don't look to his eye, the eyes of a Stranger! Be wary of duh shadows folks, he's always watching. Who knows when he'll jump in and hand ye ovah to de devil!"

At that point, I could feel every eye in the room glance at my back, then quickly away. Now, I as more than angry, I was irate.

Abruptly, upsetting my stool in the process, I grabbed the drunk man's collar and drug him to a shadow corner.

I could feel the eyes of the room upon me and the room fell dead silent with fear as I pushed the drunk up against the wall, grinding his back into its stone surface. I leaned in close, my eyes blazing green.

"Look into my eyes," I growled.

He closed his own tightly, shaking his head and pressing himself closer to the cold, stone wall.

"I said, look into my eyes you fool." I shook him violently and my voice grew lower and more dangerous as my rage issued itself further upon the man, "LOOK INTO MY EYES!"

He did and I could see the reflection of my green eyes in his own. He stared a great length of time into them and finally, his eyes clouded from one too many drinks and I let him slip from my grip and crumple to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I looked at him in disgust then turned around abruptly in challenge to the other onlookers at the sound of a gasp.

"Didn't he just warn you, you lot of fools! Don't look into my eyes!"

It was then that I saw Fumu, her eyes glazed with fear and trembling.

My eyes quickly faded back into shadow and I approached her slowly, "Fumu…"

And she ran from me, leaving me standing there, looking after her like a shadow in the firelight.

"Curse me… curse me to hell…" I growled to myself bitterly now wishing greatly that I had controlled my anger.

_**Sweey: **_** It is rare for Stranger to act so rashly… for those of you who aren't familiar with him… :3 Anyways, my sister and her bo' are beggin' me to come play Little Big Planet and eat a heart-shaped Pizza…. ,:| Should I be thrilled? Hmm… anyways, please ****read and review****! :D Happy Valentines Day! **


	5. The Face of a Stranger

Sweey:_** Here is yet another chapter of this story. I don't have much to say...yet... so yeah! :D This chapter gets REALLY intense... okay... more like emotionally intense. **_

_Chapter 5:_**_ The Face of a Stranger_**

"Great, another false trail. At this rate we'll be too late to do any good," Emit growled to himself, "We had better hurry and get on the main trail before dusk."

Meta Knight and Edge followed quietly behind Emit as he led them back on the right path. As they walked on, the trail became less complicated and straighter forward.

"It seems Stranger must have shaken off the effects of the poison temporarily, but he and Fumu were joined by someone else," Emit interpreted the tracks to his friends, "Don't worry Edge, Stranger is taking good care of Fumu. They're walking more casually together now."

Edge's eyes snapped onto Emits, "Just how casual are they being and what was the treatment before this?"

Emit shrugged, "Considering that Stranger was possessed at the time, he treated her fairly well. Though it was still quite a bit rougher than his usual, polite self. It's just a casual friendly walk. Nothing too personal going on between them. It's obvious. They stand closer together and farther away from the additional traveler, who seems to always walk slightly behind Stranger as though he was pushing him onward."

Edge nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the tracks. He himself was an excellent tracker, just not quite as honed to the details that Emit's eyes had been trained for. That got him wondering, who had trained Emit to be so skillful in such a way?

**...**

I knew where Fumu had gone as there was only one place in this fortress that she would feel safe.

With the aid of a lock-pick I opened the door with little effort and stepped into my apartment.

"Fumu?"

No answer followed, but despite her reluctance to speak, I would be able to find her if I looked for the signs. I saw a slight fold in the rug that clearly revealed that she had headed for the bed. It was then that my eyes beheld the bed skirt where it was slightly pulled farther in than the rest of it. Not far from that, I caught movement. It was very little motion, only a slight shifting of the bed skirt. She was trying to steady her breathing, but it only proved to make it harder for her. I knew where she was now.

"Fumu, come out from under the bed. I give you my word, I will not harm you," to prove my point, I unstrapped my knives in their scabbards and slid them towards her hiding spot, followed closely behind by my compound bow, unstrung, and the quiver of arrows that went with it. Without a weapon in my grasp, I could not harm her... nor defend her if something went wrong. That alone made my stomach knot up in fear. How do you protect someone with nothing especially when they themselves are afraid and avoiding you as though you're the plague?

Slowly, she emerged from her hiding place under the bed, gripping onto one of my silver knives with two unsteady hands. She was terrified of me and it shattered my already broken heart.

"Fumu, I am sorry. I should have controlled my anger."

She didn't budge, instead she just stared at me with wide eyes, knife held by tight hands their knuckles white from her intense grip, and her entire body shaking with fear.

I took a step forward slowly, "Fumu..."

"Don't take another step, Stranger! Put your hands behind your back and sit down!" she demanded of me in a trembling voice.

I did as I was told and she stepped forward, still holding the knife in her hands. When she stood before me, she slowly reached with a wavering hand towards my face.

My eyes widened, I knew what her goal was, "Fumu! Please no!"

She shook her head, "I can't trust someone with no face."

With those words she flicked off my hood and revealed my face.

I shut my eyes in shame and clenched my jaw as I sat there, exposed and vulnerable before her. Thankfully, the room was dark enough to slightly blur my features.

"Y-you're a..." she struggled to say.

"I know what I am!" I replied stiffly, still closing my eyes and cringing.

I could still sense her eyes studying me closely. I wanted to run from her, I wanted to hide my shame.

"You're a demon," she said in a quaking voice.

I looked up at her and scowled, "I am not!" Then, realizing I had opened my eyes, I closed them again.

"No! Open them again!" Fumu commanded.

I shook my head, attempting to reach and throw my hood back over my face, but she grabbed my hands.

"Open your eyes."

There was no use arguing further, so I opened them. She stared deeply into them.

"They're so... beautiful..." she said in quiet awe. As she studied them, I could see my green, irises that shimmered like emeralds around a large, black pupil of.

I turned away, "Alright, you've seen them." Before she could protest further, I slipped my hood back over my face, returning to the comfort of the deep shadow it cast over my face.

"Fine," Fumu said, crossing her arms, "Tell me, what are you a slave to? Who did all this to you?"

"W-what are you talking about?" I stammered.

"If you're not a demon, why do you do such bad things?" She asked in more detail.

I frowned, knowing she'd not budge unless I told her at least on thing about me, "If I tell you my story, do you promise not to utter a single word to not a soul. Neither dead nor living."

She nodded, "I promise."

I sat and hesitated a moment. Could I really trust her? Or would she betray me like everyone else in my life had...? Despite my reluctance, I began my story, "On a moonlit night while wandering through the woods of a strange planet, I was greeted by a breeze that flowed lazily through the leaves. I was rambling, enjoying the coolness of the night when something grabbed me and rushed me through the trees..."

**...**

_Sweey: _**_Stranger's story is a sad and relatively dark one. We'll continue with it in the next chapter. :) Well, I've got only one request of you. Today when you review, I'd like to know what you think will happen in my story, what your thoughts are on Stranger, and what was your favorite part so far. :D This will help a lot! It will inform me as to what you readers really want to hear and where this story is taking your minds. In other words... I'm gonna twist it. ;D So please, R&R! _**

_**Thank you Crispy Pink for that AWESOME one-shot Val-fic! You did a great job portraying my characters and I look forward to further updates from you! ;D For those of you who haven't, go read her story: Tiny pieces of snow. :3 tis adorable! ^_^**_


	6. A Stranger of a Stranger Past

_**Sweey:**_** This was actually a more complicated chapter to write. In my own opinion, it is a very epic... and rather dark chapter. Stranger has had a pretty rough past. :) Thank you all for reviewing, it was nice to hear what your thoughts were on Stranger and this story so far. I had a different title for the chapter but, I decided to save that name for the title of a further chapter. **

_NOTE:_** During this chapter, Stranger does a lot of talking, so in order to be grammatically correct, I still space it out in paragraphs as he tells his story. When he's narrating, his words will NOT be encased in quotation marks, but when he's telling Fumu the story of his past, his words WILL be encased in quotation marks. It is fairly confusing and I know you all probably already know this, but there's nothing wrong with making sure. This is a very important chapter. **

_Chapter 6 __**A Stranger of a Stranger Past**_

Fumu sat wide eyed as I continued my tale.

"They were all around me, dancing about a great, blazing fire, dragging me to the center along with about a dozen other unfortunate fools that they had captured. One by one they were tossed into the massive bonfire. Before my eyes I beheld the flaming, living bodies as their screams of agony filled my ears and the rank of their smoldering flesh invaded my nostrils. I had to do something in order to survive this terrible fate, so I kicked the man who held me captive and dashed away to a cliff which I climbed swiftly like as though had steps carved into it. Though I was fleet, they spotted me before I could slip into the shadows beyond the light of the blazing flames in the valley below the cliff I was scaling. I could hear them coming up behind me, so I rushed to a lone, aged tree perched high upon the cliff. Once there, I pulled out my bow and shot them down, not one of my devastating arrows failed to hit their targets, each delivering an instant kill shot. That is, until I exhausted my quiver's supply."

"With no other choice, I fled. They gained on me promptly; after all, I was but one man. I was helpless to them as they swarmed me in my dark hour. Then one of them grabbed me up and lifted a small hatchet to cut off my hands."

"Your hands?" Fumu echoed in horror.

"Yes," I smiled ruefully at her, "What kind of archer doesn't have any hands?"

She hesitated and I nodded, "That's right, a dead one."

Her eyelids fluttered a few times as she fully understood the meaning of my words, "With no hands, you'd have no way of shooting your bow or even wield a knife in defense!"

I nodded and then continued, "The man managed to mangle on of them before he was stopped by his leader, Shadox Veroxin. He had incredible control over the hatchet and he stopped the stroke in mid-collision, tearing halfway through my left hand. The stroke began between my middle finger and pointer finger then angled down towards my styloid process-"

"Styloid process?" Fumu interrupted me.

"You know…the little bump on your wrist below your pinky. I suppose you could call it the ankle of your wrist, I don't have a clue," I murmured my explanation as I waved the matter away.

Fumu's eyes beamed with curiosity, "Can I see the scar-?"

"-No," I cut her off flatly. I sighed, "Anyways, the wound tore through several tendons and ligaments in my hand and I was declared lame in my left arm. Shadox Veroxin wouldn't allow what he believed such a wonderful and valuable creation to go to waste, so he commanded several surgeons to restore my lame arm as a gift to me. So I accepted and they surgically transplanted metal wires to reattach and strengthen the lame ligaments and tendons in my left arm."

Fumu scowled, "That's ridiculous! I can't believe you can lie to me without any shame!"

I frowned, hurt by her words, "Fumu, you don't believe me?"

"Of course I don't!" Fumu replied huffily, crossing her arms.

My frown deepened and I slipped off the black, leather gauntlet of my left arm, revealing the ugly scar on my hand and offered Fumu a magnet, "Alright, then satisfy your doubt."

Fumu took it and looked at it, her features softening as I held out my exposed arm to her. For a long while, she stared at my scar, not sure what to say.

"Go on, see if it works," I challenged her.

"Won't it hurt you?" Fumu asked to stall in doing the task I had requested.

I cocked my head at her, "I thought you said the idea was ridiculous, so why hesitate if you know it deems false."

Fumu nodded and lifted the magnet near my arm and it flew from her hand and stuck to the flesh of my arm. I flinched as it did so. It already began to press farther against my arm, digging into it, trying desperately to reach the metal that rested beneath it. I watched as Fumu's eyes widened and were blurred with tears, "You were telling the truth."

I nodded, and then continued with my story, "After my arm had been restored." I paused briefly to pry off the magnet and slip my glove and gauntlet back on, "Shadox Veroxin told me that I owed him a debt despite the surgery being a gift. He wanted to become one of his henchmen but I was no man's toy. I am a Wanderer, not a thug. So naturally, I refused. But Shadox Veroxin wouldn't take no for an answer. That evening, as I wandered back homeward, his men were sent to ambush me. They followed me for a long while undetected, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

"At the time I was hearing an odd humming sound, like the flight of a bumble bee. I stopped and scanned the trees to locate the source of the sound, but found nothing. That shift was my greatest mistake."

"As I turned, a sudden twinge of sharp pain entered my left arm yet again. I staggered back from the sheer force of the blow and held up my wounded arm for my eyes to behold. There I found a blade in the form of a hummingbird, perched on my arm with its hollow beak embedded into my vein. I watched in helpless horror as the last few drops of the green liquid in the bird's beak drained into my arm, turning the vein a dark green. Not long after I saw the shapes of men in the trees and the hummingbird dagger flew away towards the setting sun. It was then that I realized that my eyesight was tinted green and I was beginning to fade into an unconscious state. I lost my mind after that. The next day I awoke to a red dawn… and that day was the turning point of my life. Fumu, do you know what they say about a red dawn?" I asked Fumu softly.

"Red sun at morning, sailors warning," Fumu recited with little effort, fully engaged in my tale.

I nodded, frowning in agreement, "Yes, there's that one, but there is another. Do you know that one?"

"I think a do know a bit," she declared uncertainly. "This is the wisdom of the old wise men; when the red dawn matches the horizon, you know that before the moon took flight, blood was spilled that night."

My head dipped in agreement, "Yes that is the one, but that is not quite how the original saying goes."

"_This is the wisdom from the old wise men:_

_When the red dawn matches the horizon, _

_You know that during the night,_

_Just before the moon took flight,_

_That __innocent blood__ had been spilled,_

_Of those who were ordered killed._

_A death delivered by a faceless man._

_A traitor, a wanderer who never can,_

_Find rest in one land and is always in danger._

_Don't look to the __eyes of a stranger__._

_Don't look through the eyes of a fool,_

_To the eyes like the glowing, green jewel._

_Following close in pursuit, making not a sound,_

_Somebody is watching when the light comes down," _I paused as I finished reciting the poem that had been pounded into my mind a thousand times in the past and held Fumu's gaze. "Do you know who this poem refers to?"

Fumu opened her mouth, but no words crept into my ears.

"Take a wild guess," I spoke grimly.

She hesitated before finally saying, "Are they talking about… you?"

I dipped my head once, allowing silence to be the power in my voice.

I watched as Fumu's eyes danced nervously to the side and back to my eyes where they hid beneath the shadow of my cowl, as she thought of some way to reply to that.

I turned, ashamed of myself and everything in my life after that mistake, "That day when I woke up… I..I…." my voice went dry and my tongue protested my demand to tell the truth, "I had killed so many… that the horizon truly did match the red dawn… They replaced my heart with an emerald… I no longer have a choice whether to love or hate. They control me, despite how hard I fight against them…" My mind had drifted away from reality as I relived that day as I told Fumu of it. It was painful, so painful that I wished that death would relieve me as I felt the scar where those men had tore out my heart and replaced it with a stone.

A long while we stood there, silence stilling our tongues and depression opening a void. I turned and looked at her recalling the last person I had admitted all this to. "She died by my hand…" I whispered to myself aloud.

Fumu titled her head in confusion, "Who?"

I could feel the despair of that memory cause my heart to pour out through my eyes, and I refused to let it do so. Crying would not help a situation like this, it only wasted time. I paused and met her gaze again, speaking in an even tone, "No one. You should go to bed. It's late and you'll need your strength tomorrow. We'll be getting up early in the morning."

"Why do we need to get up early? Can't you continue your story?" the slight displeasure in her voice screamed in my ear and I could feel my eye twitch with growing irritation.

The frustration grew and it really wasn't her fault I knew. My pain was an emergent, violent beast inside me, but I kept my emotions well hidden behind my usual gentle, firm tone, "Before dawn."

"Why then?" Fumu asked quickly.

My eyes locked onto hers from beneath the shadow cast over my face and my voice escaped from my grasp and grew low and dangerous, "Because Fumu, I said so. Now go to bed."

I hated being like that. I'd prefer her to just do so without quandary. Unfortunately, life wasn't always as simple as yes or no question.

With much distaste, I watched as Fumu sat down at one of the chairs and crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Fumu, please, this is awfully childish for you," I told her, struggling immensely to contain the exasperation that strained my voice.

"It's even more childish that you can't tell me her name! Please Stranger! I don't know your name either! I want to know!" she pleaded to me.

At that, I was at a loss for words and stood there mouth agape. I was deeply appalled and hurt by her words. This time, no matter how hard I fought it, my anger controlled my voice.

"Childish? I tell you my darkest secrets and you're calling me childish? Just because you want to know more that I won't speak of you're calling me childish? The last time I told someone my name and purpose I lost everything and they were killed! I've risked everything to make you, a child, comfortable because it breaks my heart that you have distrust for me," I paused, and then gathered my effects and went to the door, opening it. Before I exited, without even glancing in her direction, I spoke to her in a more controlled voice, "Go to bed whenever you're most pleased with. I'll carry you so you can sleep in when we escape this wretched place. Good night, Fumu."

With those words said, I slipped through the door, closed it gently, and then locked the outside bolt, imprisoning her there for the night. I then sat, back to the door and wrapped myself yet again in the comfortable silk cloth of my cloak and closed my eyes for sleep. Despite my irritation towards her I would not let my anger burn in me through the night and rise with the dawn again. No, I would guard her through the night whether she cares or not, even if that meant sleeping in the bitter dark.

**Sweey: **_**I'm terribly sorry for the gap I left you guys in last time and hope this did a little good in filling in your questions…. Well some of them anyways! Haha I found a new game called Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes. SOOOO AWESOME! :D I got the forty dollar game for only twenty bucks! :D Talk about a steal! I was excited to find out that there's also an…. anime about it! CHA-CHING! What a find! Anyways, if you've ever played it, my favorite character is none other than the egocentric, sexy Masamune Date who reminded me SO much of our good friend Emit. Masamune also wields not one nor two but SIX katanas at once! XD SOOOO EPIC! AND HE's got a missing eye…. Okay I'm done ranting about my new fad. SO! Whatya think of the new chapter! :) How are you liking Stranger? I've one more question, would you like it if I updated my novel so that you can give me feedback. It has the entire cast of my OC's in it –including Stranger- , whatya say?**_


	7. Tracking Tracks of a Tracking Tracker

**Sweey: **_**Well, today was rather interesting… today I found out my Great-Grandmother –whom I'm very close to- is undergoing a surgery tomorrow morning and might not make it…. so please, keep her in your prayers. I also discovered that that game I was telling you all about is actually based off of real characters. Not that Masamune Date ACTUALLY fought with six katanas, he did have his right eye missing and he was also known as the One Eyed Dragon. Another interesting fact about him was that he supported Christians in Japan even after his lord outlawed Christians. Though they say he wasn't a Christian…. Who's they is what I want to know! I believe he was. TAKE THAT RANDOM HISTORIANS OF JAPAN! :D ha ha! Okay, now for the chapter…. **_

**Chapter 7 Tracking Tracks of a Tracking Tracker **

My eyes flickered open to dim light as it was yet to be dawn. I stood and slipped into the room to prepare for the journey that lay ahead.

As I entered, I met Fumu's gaze. She stood in the middle of the room, bathed and ready to go. Tears filled her eyes and she rushed to embrace me.

"I'm sorry Stranger," she whimpered in my ear.

I pulled from her and smiled, "No bitterness was ever held against you."

She smiled slightly and I approached a nearby trunk and opened it, dragging out an old cloak similar to the one I currently had thrown around my shoulders. It was tattered and worn but it would serve its purpose. I handed it to her and she looked at me first in puzzlement.

"Put it on."

She nodded, understanding and did so without question.

"If you are in danger trust in this cloak. It is made of a camouflaged cloth and will conceal you from the eyes of enemies. Should we run into trouble, wrap yourself in it and stay unmoving. No one will see you as long as you don't move or make a sound. Trust in the cloak to hide you and do not move even if they seem to have found you," I informed her.

Her head dipped once again before she took a seat in a nearby chair as I prepared for our journey. When I was finished, I looked to her and grinned grittily.

"Now, let us get out of this damn prison."

….

Emit was scouting ahead along a steep trail. The earth was damp with the evening rain from the night before and sprinkled with remains of dew from the early morning and it wasn't but an hour ago that the first rays of sunlight had shown across the distant horizon. Emit, being the extraordinary and strong-minded tracker he was, would not stand to waste even a second of daylight therefore had roused his two friends before dawn and set off after a brief meal of cheesy eggs and mint tea.

This morning was filled with moist air, quietness, and incased in a thick layer of fog. In the distance, Emit could hear the sound of a waterfall roaring as the depressing voice of a morning dove sang against the current's boisterous song.

"Are we nearly there?" Edge asked him, his voice strained with exhaustion as he followed behind Emit on the narrow, slick path that weaved in the middle of a hillside amidst a hushed gathering of trees.

Emit shrugged, "There's no telling, really." The moment the words slipped from his tongue, his own foot gave way from beneath him and he slid wildly down the steep hill, all the while keeping his balance fairly steady. That is, until he reached the bottom where he was thrown into the patch of mud that extended a welcome to him as he landed with a guttural grunt and a large splash of wet dirt.

"Butterfly kisses, I hate mud…" he growled crossly as he picked himself up.

Edge and Sir Meta Knight couldn't help but chuckle as the mud-caked figure of Emit approached them back up the hill, occasionally slipping as he struggled back up the precipitous hill.

"We'll take a rest stop when we reach the waterfall," he said as he glared while passing them by then turned and raised an eyebrow at them both, "What's with the stupid grins on your faces?"

Immediately, Edge's grin vanished and portrayed his usual emotionless manner. Of course, Meta could care less about what Emit said concerning his face.

_After all, the witty Ivoian couldn't see it anyways_, he thought with a smirk.

Emit's eyes narrowed, "You too Meta Knight."

Meta's smirk faded and was replaced by a look of confusion, _could he see his face? _

"Oh don't act like it's a mystery! I've known you for what…. 3o,ooo years?" Emit pondered aloud as he turned heel to continue onward.

Meta Knight turned his gaze to Edge in case the young shadow knew something, but only did so to receive an uncertain lift of the boy's shoulders as he left Meta there to follow after Emit.

Still utterly confused by the discovery he had just found out about Emit, Meta Knight walked on, wondering just how many times Emit had been aware of what was really going on his mind behind the mask he wore. Then he began to wonder if it was ever a secret to anyone.

…..

I knew what I had to do, but how I would go about doing it, I did not know.

Fumu walked slightly behind me, cloaks flowing as I listened to her silent footsteps and the footsteps of those who followed silently behind in pursuit. They were my enemies, here to ensure I performed the task their master had appointed to me.

It wasn't long that I found the tracks. Emit was following my old tracks and now I was using his tracks to follow him. I was tracking a tracker who was tracking me and my own tracks. I suppose you could call it backtracking, since I was following a tracker tracking tracks I'd left behind days ago. Had I been seeking something lost, I would have probably found it easily, but I was instead hunting those who hunted me.

As odd as it sounds, it was no difficult task to perform. I am a Wanderer after all and we Wanderers spend years perfecting the art of tracking, so it should be no surprise as to how well I can do it. Just by simple footprints and occasional broken sticks or strips of cloth left behind I can imagine exactly what the person had been doing, why, and where. Alright, sometimes not always why, I'll admit, but there are occasional times that it's flat out obvious. Like now, Emit is evidently following my tracks in order to find me. To the untrained eye the tracks along the trail were a mindless jumble of footsteps, but to my eyes, a detailed map of a story that had happened not but ten minutes prior to my arrival.

I could see where Emit had slid down the side of the steep slope of the hill, not once loosing his feet. That is, until he reached the bottom. And now, I could se where they were headed and were reluctant to do so. Meta Knight seemed to have been shaken by some new news he'd discovered and had tagged along behind deep in thought as usual while Edge was eager to follow Emit, no matter how much mud the Ivoian was covered in.

"Come on, we're getting closer to them," I told Fumu before dashing forward toward the roaring voice of the distant waterfall. Overhead, a morning dove flew from the branches of an old oak tree. We were but a few hundred steps behind them and they were entirely unaware.

…..

Emit was standing at the head of the waterfall, bathing in the stream that supplied its clear, falling waters. He was cleaning off the mud that clung to his bare shoulder when he sensed eyes upon him.

He didn't even hesitate in his bathing as he sharpened his senses to what was around him. Birds, the waterfall, Edge and Meta Knight chatting about his recent trip down the hillside, the flowing stream, the wind through the rustling trees, a rabbit chewing on grass, and in the distance, he could hear a squirrel breaking open a nutshell.

With these sounds attuned to his ears, any foreign sound would scream in warning to him. Even as he stood there, he heard the squirrel drop its precious nut and leap to another branch and the little rabbit's fast hops as it scampered away for cover under a log.

Walking up to the shore, Emit threw back on his cloths and approached Edge and Sir Meta Knight.

"We're not alone," he whispered to them through a smile without moving his lips.

The other two laughed and welcomed him, winking their acknowledgement to his warning.

Then Edge looked in the distance and froze. Fumu was sprinting towards them and she was alone.

"Fumu!" he cried, exploding in a fast run to meet her, followed closely behind by Emit and Sir Meta Knight.

"Where's Stranger?" Emit demanded, his voice quavering with a mixture of relief and worry.

"I-I don't know," she replied through sobs, "We were ambushed by shady men and he told me to run towards the sound of the waterfall. I heard his screams… and the crack of a whip. Then a humming sound followed and his screams were cut off suddenly and I…. I was so scared…" she buried her face into Edge's shoulder and cried harder.

Emit's throat went dry and he stared in the distance, consumed by the news he'd just received. As he stared off to the place where Fumu had arrived from, he began to understand what may happen and it brought him fear. If what Fumu had said were correct, then Stranger was either dead or they were about to be thrown into the fight for their lives.

…..

**Sweey:**_** Hope you guys liked this chapter. Me and my cliffies! Haha :3 Guess you'll just have to wait till I get a hankering to update again. The story is almost over by the way…. So, what do you think will happen? Hmmm? Tell me pwease! :D Reviews bring me happiness and today… I really need that. **_


	8. Many Names, Only One True

**Sweey:**_** Well, what a long, long day. I should be punished… I've been watching and playing WAY too much Sengoku Basara… lol I've already gotten Masamune Date to level 65…. That wouldn't be a big deal save that I've only owned the game for like… let's see now… I got it on Saturday? Or was it Friday? Anyways, it's been less than a week that I've owned the game. I've already got his six claws up to their max level and got his other garment…. Which is friggin' awesome. Heh, anyways, someone asked me (no this has nothing to do with what you're about to read… sadly… perhaps I'll get around to writing a story for Masamune Date one of these days… but the game's storyline is pretty tough with some tough names) so someone asked me how to pronounce Masamune's name. His voice sends shivers down my spine… rawr! Okay, so you pronounce it NOT like this. May-say-moon Date but rather like this: Mah-suh-moon-aye Dah-tey. :3 That's my ridiculous attempt… kay, now for this next chapter! I hope you get better Crispy Pink! (yeah… it was random to you guys but not to CP!... no she's not a computer player!) okay… I'm gonna shut my face… GO READ!**_

**Chapter 8 Many Names, Only One True**

I was trembling, not in fear, but in pain. I was loosing blood at a frightening rate and I was growing weaker by the seconds that passed by like an entire lifetime in this condition I was in.

"Faceless, get up."

I lifted my gaze wearily skyward, only to discover Shadox Veroxin darkening my view of the already cloudy sky.

Shadox Veroxin sighed irritably and gestured leisurely to me, "Pick him up and give him another dose."

I felt my body hoisted up and soon, hands were crawling for a grip on me as they prepared to strike me yet again with one of those dreaded hummingbird blades.

My eyes widened as it drew nearer to the place where my heart once rested. This would be the end of my sanity, I knew. I had to do something to stop them else I would slaughter every last soul on this planet, including my dear friends. Just like her. And like that, that painful memory crept back from the darkest places of my mind and filled my thoughts with pictures of the past; the blood, the horror, and the pain and helplessness that it brought with the darkness. I could not let it happen again, I would not.

I shot out my hand and snatched the wrist of the man who held the hummingbird blade, but alas I had little strength left and after a stinging slap on my face from a nearby henchman I released my grip.

"Wait," Shadox Veroxin ordered as an amused smile crept across his face, "Why bother Stranger? What do you hold for these people I've ordered you to kill?"

I snickered briefly, "I hold only death for them, your lordship. I thirst for revenge and their blood along with it."

"Death? That seems a little dark, even for you?" Shadox Veroxin asked curiously.

"They've been hunting me for a great length of time wanting me dead," I replied readily, "I am an animal to them."

"I see and what crime have you committed to earn such a fate?" Shadox challenged me, looking deep into my hidden eyes.

I remained emotionless under his gaze and replied coolly, "I kidnapped the girl."

"Yes, that's not really such a bad thing, I'm sure there's more than that to the story… hmmm?" His voice came out comical, as if he was amused by the state of helplessness I was in. I wished I could slap that stupid, smug grin off of his face and put a few dozen arrows in his chest for all the unmentionable acts he's done to me and my friends, but I refrained from doing so, as it would only dig a deeper hole than I was already in. Shadox Veroxin was not the king, he was only a lord… under someone even greater. Someone who's name shall never be uttered even in the darkest of places.

"I slept with her against her bidding," I answered unperturbedly, confident that I would be able to go without the poison with little protest.

"Hmm… but don't you wish them a more violent death?" he queried of me holding up that hummingbird blade for me to see. "After all, you're still conscious when possessed by the poison. It'll be like watching a bloody play from behind a green curtain."

"I'd like to control the torture I do to them. Besides, I'd like to toil another night with that girl," I said with a wicked smile, nothing would stop me now. Then that unmistakable twinge of pain invaded both my left arm and the stone that was my heart. My eyes widened, glinting green in shock as I looked into the eyes of the heartless Shadox Veroxin.

"Damn… you… you bastard Veroxin…. D-damn you to hell…" In my mind I was screaming the words, but my voice was strained as the dose of poison took me over, and my heart glowed green beneath the skin. There was no getting out of this one.

Shadox Veroxin laughed, and then leaned in close to my face, his icy breath on my hot brow as he kissed my forhead, "Lieing… is unacceptable. You know that well Faceless… When will you ever learn? Now go and slaughter them. I want their heads on a platter by the red dawn…. Altan…"

My eyes widened again at the mention of the name I hadn't heard uttered before me for a lifetime. My name… Altan, the red dawn. I was destined to be a faceless assassin no matter how long and hard I pressed on to escape such a fate. My heart beat like a drum and my ears rung as cold sweat streamed down my brow, mingling with the green blood that was mine own. Should I die here? How did Shadox Veroxin come to know my name? I'd only whispered it into the ear of one person and my own hands were forced to kill her by his command.

My spirit lifted as realization dawned upon me and I managed to whisper three words before fading into a deep slumber in my pool of blood, "She is… alive."

**Sweey: **_**So, I revealed his name….. okay REVIEW… while I go play Sengoku Basara like a mad one-eyed dragon with six katanas….. **_

_**Masamune: LET'S PARTAH! **_

_**Stranger: …..theif.**_

_**Masamune: Heh… **_


	9. Eyes in the Fog

**Sweey:_ Regrettably, today... I finished the anime that I loved so much: Sengoku Basara. It didn't conclude very well... in other words, you don't know what happens to the remaining characters! Do Masamune and Yukimura finally ally and enjoy their rivalry? Does Masamune acheive world dominance... in the good way? Who gets what land and what happens to them all! O_O Okay... I'm done ranting about it. It was an excellent anime and I think you'd all like it. :) Anyways, here's another chapter of this story._ ****_So this was originally part of chapter 8… but I liked the nice way it wrapped up without this extra part. So, chapter 9 will be halfway combined with the remaining text of chapter 8 and the other half of chapter nine will be combined into a chapter 10…. I'm sick of ending stories on random, weird numbers. Most stories end on chapters 10, 35, 15, etc. The Lightning Knight landed on 11 chapters, The Past of the Masked Knight (not including reference page) ended on 34 instead of the desired 35, and this one was going to end on chapter 9, so GOOD for you! You've got two more chapters to read! :D Haha, okay… I'm gonna shut up now and let you all read. _**

**Chapter 9:_ Eyes in the Fog_**

Emit walked quietly, slightly ahead, claw mitts unsheathed and ready for action. He was attuned to the world around him as he led the other three onward.

They understood the extremeness of the matter and, after hearing Emit's recent explanation of the tracks they had found where Stranger had been attacked, had drawn out their weapons. Edge stood on Fumu's right with his curved, dual blades, while Sir Meta Knight walked on her left side with the legendary Galaxia sword in his mitton-clad hand.

Stranger was alive, but he was possessed and angry.

Emit wasn't sure what to expect. He knew though that one term was in play for sure. Stranger, the Wanderer known as the silent breath of death akin to the quiet flight of an arrow from his double bow, was going to be doing everything in his power to see them all dead while Emit and the others were trying to defend themselves from the brutality of their friend, sustaining their blades to be stained with their dear wandering friend's lifeblood. It was going to be difficult, especially if Stranger had company.

Then Emit heard them, the silent footsteps of an approaching, unseen death. Not long after, a pair of furious, glowing green eyes staring to the very core of his soul through Emit's own eyes. They were none other than Stranger's. Pain he felt for his Wandering friend and how desperately he wanted to help him.

Of course, it seemed Stranger wasn't feeling such pity for himself nor did he give the impression that he wanted any help.

He saw it then, the emerald tipped arrow bursting from the mist and straight for the throat of Edge. In a swift blur, Emit's bladed mitts came down, slicing the arrow in three places, interrupting its path for death.

Edge and Sir Meta Knight already had their guard up and ready as the fog thickened around them, as though it was trying to choke every last drop of confidence out of them.

"This is bad…" Emit said irritated, his voice escalating in anxiety as the three warriors circled together in defense, their backs to Fumu, "This is very, very bad. We've no clue where his arrows will come from! No warning, nothing!"

He was right; they knew it was a recipe for disaster, a massacre. While the fog concealed their confused friend, he shot arrow after arrow at a blinding rate, each faster than the one before it, coming from all around them. There was no pattern to it, no way to predict where the next arrow would fly to. Several of them slid past them, grazing against their skin often resulting in a narrow escape or a slight gash.

"He only has thirty-six arrows at max! Keep yourself alert and don't leave any one place exposed for him to aim at!" Emit yelled to his friends.

Arrow after arrow was shot from the thick fog that encircled the four friends, warning them only with a brief flash of green as the remaining light glinted off of their sharpened heads in their flight. There was no way of escape in the fog, no where to hide and take cover as arrow after arrow exploded from the fog coming toward them. Their lungs heaved in and out from the anxiety and the panic that they had just felt from the experience. The air, frigid and thick, exposed their breath as they stood panting with eyes searching frantically for the next place of attack. Stranger was out of arrows, but he was not out of resources.

Still, the heavy silence laid upon the four as the anticipation and fear of the unknown escalated in the dimming light. The feint mist had ceased, no birds sang, even the waterfall seemed to have stopped cold. This could be their death, they knew this. Stranger was a Wanderer and he had a great advantage over them. Numbers did not matter now, no, Stranger was too skillful to be outnumbered and outwitted. So the sinister silence continued as the ominous fog hung in the air and swirled around them, seemingly obscuring the four friends in a tight circle of dread as they waited.

Two long, silver fighting knives darted for them from the swirl of fog. One of them managed to graze past Edge's side and the other sliced a deep slash on Emit's cheek inches from blinding his left eye. Then abruptly, everything stopped and silence took hold. They didn't dare move or make a sound; for fear that that one action would be their last to their death. So they stood there, gulping the air into their lungs and breath out a cloud of visible heat. The temperature had dropped considerably, as though the very spirit of death was present, waiting to drag them into their graves.

Not a footstep, crackling of leaves, or friction of cloth could have warned them for what came to occur next.

Emit's eyes scanned the fog just in time to see it break open allowing a blurred figure through leaving only a swirl in the fog where their friend had been. Where he was now, he could not say, but when he turned around, the glint of a blade swung for his throat. Emit dodged, bending his back until he fell to the ground, wide eyes watching the swinging, horizontal arch of the massive, silver blade that had been aimed to meet his neck that he had just missed by the fraction of a second.

After Emit regained his feet he looked to his friends who stared at the present figure in awe and fear. When Emit allowed his own gaze to shift to where theirs were looking, he understood completely.

Green eyes, the eyes of a stranger, locked onto his, feeling as though the gaze was freezing his limbs in a cocoon of dry ice that promised to thaw though never would. He could not move nor feel anything. He couldn't breath, perhaps he would die as could only stare into those endless pools of green that glowed beneath the dark shadow of the hood like two emeralds tempting him for great riches, but would never once be within reach.

…

They stood before me, helpless against my gaze. They could do nothing against my power and I was lost in it.

While I had shot the arrows I fought to miss my targets. It was as though I were a puppet on strings, dangling over a deadly drop. Should I fail, I would die, if I went through with this, they would die and my soul with it.

I had discarded my gauntlets and bow and now held two massive blades that curved in a peculiar fashion. They were attached to my arms by leather straps and my hands gripped the handles provided to secure them.

I had to fight this demon within me, this poison, and the dark secret it had become. I had to defeat it.

I had to tell them somehow but this cage I'm in, it doesn't allow my voice to flow. No control can I gain from this endless array of dark commands. While I had been missing my targets, I knew I could not hold myself back for much longer. This would be our end should it come to this.

….

Emit bared his teeth in concentration. He had to break free; he had to stop this madness. How could he though? Nothing came to mind that provided an answer. Not even that old saying that Stranger had so many times told him in the past.

"Don't look to the eyes of a stranger," often, that had been the words of the Wanderer to him when facing a certain danger. He had told Emit that it was the very reason he wore the deep hood, to escape the eyes of a stranger while still be able to look at them.

"Don't…. look to his eyes," Emit told himself. It was a great struggle to say even that little, but somehow, as if by magic, he conquered his frozen jaw to speak the five simple words.

Stranger's eyes were fixed upon him now as the Wanderer gradually drifted closer, holding up one of the huge blades, ready to cut him down.

Emit's brows drew together as he closed his eyes. It nearly exhausted him but after that, he was free.

He sprung to the side, knocking over his friends, breaking them free of Stranger's gaze.

"Don't look into his eyes, or you'll be finished!" Emit shouted to them in warning.

So with eyes cast down, they would be forced to fight the Wanderer. And even so, the three swordsmen could not penetrate his guard and all the while he fought with a wicked grin painted on his face as he slowly grew more powerful. More than once he had attempted to kill off Fumu, but every time, one of the swordsmen would slip between them and push him back.

"Meta Knight, take Fumu and get out of here! Edge and I will hold him off and catch up later!" Emit yelled to the masked knight, who grunted and took Fumu by the hand, fleeing the two Ivoians and their wandering friend.

"No!" Stranger growled furiously as he watched Sir Meta Knight and Fumu disappear into the fog, "Not that way!"

Emit and Edge blocked his next sword stroke together with their left hand blades and held it as they looked at their friend in confusion, his green eyes flickering as though he were fighting himself within, though was failing tremendously.

"What do you mean, not that way?" Emit demanded, his confusion evident in his voice.

Stranger's hidden gaze fixed upon him, though no longer did it glow, "An ambush…. Go that way, you will see. No, don't listen to me! Fight me!...Run and help them!"

Emit and Edge exchanged glances, nodded their understanding, and then darted off into the fog after Sir Meta Knight and Fumu, Stranger running in angry pursuit behind, eyes glowing yet again.

**Sweey:****_ That last dialogue for Stranger was hard to do while I tried really hard not to make him sound too much like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. lol Well, there's only one more chapter after this! Haha I think…. Lol really depends on how my notes get me through this. Anyways, before you go, I'd like to tell you to…. GO READ my friend Crispy Pink's stories. To boost your interest, Meta Girl and Tiny Pieces of Snow have my characters in them. :) You too are also welcome to use my characters in your stories, but please ask first and strive keep them in character. -_- They're not canon characters so you can't exactly make an OOC out of them…. Anyways, enjoy her stories while you wait for my next updates. BTW! I have recently updated my account with some awesome pictures (including the title page of this very story... which I think is also my profile pic). I'll be sure and update more eventually. I am also taking requests. If you don't know how to get to my DA account, the link is on my profile… it's the second link and it's under MY PROFILE PICTURE…. Not under the actual picture it's the header for the text below it…. You'll understand if you just go and read it. Lol, there's not much there sept a few announcements and some typos! XD haha well, until I come back, LATER GATORS! :D_**


	10. Shadow Shades and Bloodstained Blades

**Sweey:**_** Well, it's been an interesting day so far… :3 I got a sketchbook finally after not having one for let's see… 3 or 4 months, and I found a new notebook to fill up (college ruled… my favorite 3) , then my carpal tunnel is acting up really bad (probably due to all the recent drawings I've finished which I've posted on DA), my cat brought me the leg of a deer (considering that I named him Hunter, it's no surprise), and I snorted and sneezed at the same time. After that I went through an awkward hour of listening to my awesome Biology teacher lecture on Evolution. (Awkward because I'm a little wary of the theory, but I'm coming to… tolerate it). Now I'm in Personal Finances, typing up my story while learning how to write checks and balance them. :D haha okay, this SHOULD be the last chapter. Curse this cruel keyboard should I exceed the limit of TEN chapters…. Hrm…. I've thought about going on and making it 12 but, we'll just have to see how this goes. :,**_

**Chapter 10: **_**Shadow Shades and Bloodstained Blades**_

Emit and Edge pressed on, lungs heaving the air in and out as they pumped their feet closer to where Meta Knight would be waiting with Fumu. All the while, with silent footsteps, Stranger pressed in behind them, fighting his own mind in an attempt to break free of the poison. He had gathered several of his arrows and had placed them back in the safety of his quiver, sheathed the blades, and held his double bow once again.

A scream erupted in the distance and the hiss of steel and clashing of swords resounded, echoing through the fog that still hung dry in the air.

"That was Fumu!" Edge exclaimed furiously, fear for her wellbeing set in his blue eyes as he dashed off in the direction that the sound had come from, followed closely by Emit.

What they arrived to see was utterly unnerving and terrible to view, scarring their minds for the rest of their long lives.

Two men, who appeared to be Ironcladdians, held both Fumu and Meta Knight in the air as though some unfathomable force was holding their two friends there by command of the extended right hands of the two men.

"What kind of confounded sorcery is this!" Emit exclaimed in utter shock.

"They are Shadow Shades," a voice said from behind them, that familiar voice, coming like water to quench the dry throats of their minds stranded in the barren desert that came with a lack of understanding.

The two Ivoians turned to meet the hidden gaze of their fellow Twin, Stranger. At first, they lifted their weapons in defense, but lowered them after realizing he had control of himself.

"How did you do it?" Emit asked softly.

"I did nothing and this is not the time to be asking questions to satisfy your petty curiosity! Our friends need our help!" Stranger growled irritably. It was then that the two realized that he indeed was still possessed, but somehow, he had tamed it inside.

"What can we do, how do we defeat them, Stranger?" Edge queried. The two were not at all sure as to how to defeat the Shadow Shades and didn't have a clue as to what exactly they did.

"For now, take cover," Stranger whispered in reply as he led the way. Still, that ever present twinge of anger crept into his tone and made the other two wary of him.

He turned to them after they sat behind the bushes, "They're waiting for us to come out. Once we do, they'll kill them both if we don't get to them first. Therefore, let me go alone."

Emit's brows drew together, "Stranger, if you go alone the story will just repeat itself."

The corner of Stranger's mouth lifted, flashing his teeth in irritation, "Regrettably you're right… We need help." He looked to Edge, "You are an Amasi Warrior, so can't you counter their magic?"

Edge shook his head, "Unfortunately I cannot. I don't know what magic to use to counter it. One cannot just throw a plasma ball and hope it does something. Even if that works, who knows what it would do after it mixed with their shadow magic! It could kill us all or destroy this entire planet!"

"Damn this place," Stranger hissed, wincing as though some foreign being had stabbed him from with in, "We've no chance without some sort of magic wielder."

Stuck with nothing else to do, they looked back to the terrible scene from their hiding place behind the screen of fog and waited for some miracle to arrive and help them. Surprisingly, one did, or rather someone.

A flaming spear pointed to Stranger's throat as a deep, melodious voice flowed like honey to their ears, "What kind of Wanderer doesn't hear an old, lumbering warrior and a ninja when there's not even the song of the river to conceal their blundering footsteps?"

Edge and Emit were equally delighted, "Thorn!"

Thorn smiled, pulling back his flaming spear and leaning on it casually as he displayed his usual amused smile, "Seems you three are in a bit of a predicament, so my ninja told me."

"Ninja? I'd not seen one nor hear one," Stranger whispered with puzzlement as he scanned the trees.

"Awe Stranger, I'm hurt truly," a raspy, muffled voice murmured from beside the Wanderer.

Stranger whirled around and for the first time in a long while flashing his teeth in one of his rare smiles. "Rioku!" he exclaimed softly, "What are you doing here?"

Rioku, the gruff, grizzled little ninja snorted in delight, "Well my Wandering friend," he paused and waved his missing hand, showing off the sharp knife it had been replaced with. "Thought you could use some help," He added, blinking his blind, right eye.

"Isn't he a Satisan?" Emit asked, noticing this gesture and the distinct shape of the round being's eyes.

Rioku nodded, "That I am, boy. But I'm not like my brethren, those sick, twisted creatures."

"So what's the plan?" Thorn wondered as he sat down to join them.

Stranger glanced over his shoulder at the two Shadow-Shades, still suspending Meta Knight and Fumu in the air.

"You'll counter their magic while Rioku and I kill them off," Stranger finally said.

Everyone exchanged glances and Stranger scowled beneath his hood, "What?"

"That seems a little dark, don't you think?" Rioku queried, shifting back on an arm as he lay casually on one side of his round body in the lush grass.

It was evident then to them that Stranger was furious at their opinions. The very steam of his anger fumed off of his body in the cold air and his eyes flashed green briefly as he stood to his feet.

"Dark, you call that dark? You know well what they've done to me yet you still defend them! They deserve death and nothing less of it. No, more, they deserve to be tortured until their deformed bodies are nothing but a beating heart in the palm of my hand," Stranger hissed from the shadow of his cowl, "I'll beat them until they've not a drop of comfort in their body then I'll stab them thrice with one of those damned hummingbird blades that they've poisoned my soul with. They'll regret crossing my path."

Silence followed his words as the others stared at him in fear and pity. They'd never seen Stranger thirst for blood as he was now. They knew that the Wanderer was not violent at heart, but sometimes violence was the best thing to fight evil with as it was the only language evil understood and ultimately feared.

Thorn, though, was not pleased with Stranger's reaction. He stepped forward and placed a firm grip on Stranger's shoulder and shook him non to gently as he spoke.

"You must calm down. You're no use to us in so cross a manner. You know who the real prize is. As a Wanderer, I should think you'd understand that it'd be best that we save such malice for the one whom _they_ work for. Altan, you know in your heart what you must do," Thorn whispered gently. How he had come to know Stranger's name, no one knew other than the Wanderer himself.

"I have no heart, they stole my heart," Stranger growled, sadness overlapping the anger that drenched his quite voice which stumbled with his next words, "They stole my love, my peace, everything. I am nothing but an empty core inside, with nothing but a precious, glimmering, green stone beating in place of what once was."

"Yes they stole your heart, but a heart is no more than a drum within that keeps one moving. A true heart is the fire that remains inside that feeds the passion you have to destroy these evil men from the face of this planet," Thorn replied. He understood all too well Stranger's pain. They had both suffered a loss from these men.

"Then we must stop them. Same plan, without the killing, unless it is necessary. Edge and Emit will grab Fumu and Meta Knight to break their fall," Stranger whispered as he turned, fading into the background as he moved towards the men.

Before Rioku followed, he stood and looked up to Thorn, "Should we tell him?"

Thorn shook his head, "Not yet."

"Tell him what?" Emit demanded.

Thorn glared, "Don't ask unnecessary questions. If we're not telling him, what makes you think we'll be telling you, a lowly warrior?" After receiving no reply other than an intense scowl Thorn grunted and went on after Stranger with Rioku trailing behind.

"Looks like we're on the sidelines today…" Edge murmured.

"I'm not sure about that," Emit growled still gazing off after Thorn and Rioku.

…..

Anger poured out of my soul. I wanted to swoop in and tear those two men to shreds of paper, the very two from that fateful night that I initially got into this chaos, the two that had crippled my left arm and forced me to accept the surgery from Shadox Veroxin in the first place, the surgery that had left me heartless.

My hand fumbled to feel the scar where they had slit down my chest, cutting it in half with a permanent, disfigured line in order to reach in and take out my beating heart and replace it with the lifestone known as the Emerald of Enmity. I was heartless, unable to love, so they destroyed the temptation and after poisoning me for a second time, ordered my own hands to murder my betrothed.

If she was alive, my life would be restored… somehow. Where she was I'd not a clue, but it was as it had always been. I am a lowly Wanderer with no land and she… a princess. What a cliché way to fall in love with someone unpermitted to do so, still visiting her, climbing the castle walls just to exchange a brief word even after she had forbidden me to do so due to her concern for my protection. That is, until we were finally found out by her parents, surprisingly they agreed to our marriage.

I remember it so vividly. It was the day I had come to give her a delicate, single, red rose that was made of ruby and emerald which I had purchased with the last of my money to get for her. It was a treacherous climb but I made it, knowing I'd regret not saying goodbye to her. Unfortunately for me, her parents were talking to her about the soldiers' complaints on hearing and seeing strange things, suspicious of ghosts but in reality what they had seen were glimpses of me passing through.

Then they saw me, I explained and after that, we were betrothed. My head was in the clouds that night walking home and that was the very night when my life had began to be so bright that my life fell to ruin. That night would be the last beat my heart made and the night that I'd no longer be my own master.

"Stranger, 'you alright?" Rioku whispered behind me, placing a hand and pulling me out of my flashbacks. I turned to him and shrugged then looked back to the situation before me. Thorn was approaching them, already working to counter their magic.

The flame of his spear was burning a bright yellow, as opposed to its usual red-pink as I watched Thorn's mouth move in some sort of spell. Considering he was an Amasi Warrior, I'd expect no less.

The magic was countered and Fumu let out a cry of shock as she and Meta Knight were pulled down by gravity so suddenly. That all changed when she found herself in Edge's strong arms. I couldn't help but smile as the two young lovers blushed in one another's presence. Then I began to feel a familiar, yet strange wrench in my body as though some other worldly being was moving me though I was unwilling. I felt like I had grown additional limbs and I began to feel pain in places that did not exist.

I glanced up and that once motion was the only thing that saved my life for just as the Shadow-Shade began to shift my shadow, I caught him with my deadly gaze and he froze in motion, fear clouding his vision. He knew who I was and he knew that I'd kill him as I had promised. Little did he know that Thorn had a collar on my anger this time, lucky for him. Unfortunately, Thorn wasn't the only one holding the leash.

That unmistakable, twisted pang that I was so familiar with yet loathed so severely ran from the beating stone that was my heart, polluting my veins into toxic rivers of green beneath my skin. My vision at first was blurred then clouded with that wretched emerald green that my eyes had blazed so recently of.

I could feel my body progress in a swift, fluid motion to draw back arrow after arrow, some I shot, and others_ he_ shot. Those that I shot, met that of the Shadow Shades, though one of them merely was grazed, but those that _he _shot, flew to my friends, one of them nearly killing Emit in the process.

When I heard his scream of pain it was like a distant memory from the past. Her screams, I recalled, from that fateful night so many years ago.

With all the strength of my mind I forced myself free of the poison and ran to Emit's side. My arrow had gone to his torso, a fatal wound.

"S-Stranger….?" Emit whimpered, "W-what has happened is forgiven…"

Anger exploded from me as I stood to my feet, laying Emit on the ground gently for Thorn to attend to. The other Shadow Shade cowered before me and I released my anger upon him. Slashing my knives across his chest and beating his body until he no longer breathed.

My chest heaved from adrenalin as I stood over my dead enemy. I looked over my shoulder at the others who stared at me in shock yet again.

"Come on," I growled, "Let's get out of here."

…

We made our escape to Thorn's ship but before I went inside, I stood upon a hillside and gazed into the red dawn that rose. As I stood there, my eyes caught a glimpse of black.

"So, this is what it crumbles down to. You'll be doing the dirty work again," I murmured as I watched the shadowy figure move through the trees and stare at me with a glowing purple eye.

I suddenly felt a hand grip my shoulder and I whirled around, laying a hand on my knife.

"Come on, we need to leave this place," Thorn said softly.

"How's Emit's wound?" I asked, concern coating my voice thick.

"He will be fine, but you, you need some attention as well," he said, ushering me towards the ship.

I looked into his wise gray eyes as we entered the ship, "This is not over, no, not even close."

…

**Sweey:**_** Man, this chapter was tough! Anyways, yes there will be a sequel…. But I'm sick right now so it may be a while before the next update. I'll see you guys around! Hope you enjoyed it! ;D**_


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